JP2898845B2 - Image recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(Table of Contents) Industrial application field Conventional technology (FIGS. 9 to 10) Problems to be solved by the Invention Means for Solving the Problems (FIG. 1) Action Embodiment (a) Description of Image Recording Apparatus (FIGS. 2 to 4) (b) Description of hopper (FIGS. 5 to 8) (c) Description of other embodiments Effect of the Invention

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus for feeding out a sheet in a hopper, recording an image on the sheet, and discharging the sheet.

[0003] Image recording devices include printers, copiers,
Widely used for facsimile and so on. Due to recent demands for downsizing and personal use, there is a demand for a small and thin image recording apparatus having a small installation area such as a desk. In particular, as printer devices have become smaller, personal computers and word processors have been required to be as thin as about A4 size.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 9 and 10 are explanatory diagrams (part 1) and (part 2) of a conventional technology. For example, in an electrophotographic printer, as shown in FIG. 9, an organic photoconductor, a Se photoconductor,
a around a photosensitive drum 90 such as an a-Si photosensitive member, a pre-charger 91, a laser optical system 92 for performing image exposure, and development such as a two-component developer, a magnetic one-component developer, and a non-magnetic one-component developer. A container 93, a transfer roller 94, a cleaner 95 such as a fur brush cleaner and a blade cleaner, and a static elimination lamp 96 are arranged. Further, a heat fixing device 97 for fixing the toner image to the paper by heat or pressure is arranged on a conveyance path for conveying the paper.

In this operation, the surface of the photosensitive drum 90 is uniformly charged by a pre-charger 91, and a laser optical system 92 exposes a light image corresponding to the image to form an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the image. Then, the charged toner is supplied by the developing device 93, and the toner is developed. A transfer roller 94, which is a transfer device, is disposed near the photosensitive drum 90 with the sheet interposed therebetween, and electrostatically transfers the toner image on the photosensitive drum 90 to the conveyed sheet. The sheet carrying the toner image is fixed to the sheet by heat and pressure while passing through the heat fixing unit 97, and the printing is completed and discharged. On the other hand, the photosensitive drum 90 after the transfer of the toner image onto the sheet is cleaned of residual toner by the cleaner 95, the residual charge is removed by the discharging lamp 96, the photosensitive drum 90 is returned to the initial state, and the printing operation is repeated.

In such a printer device, it takes time and effort to set the sheets one by one, and therefore, it is necessary to provide a hopper for storing the sheets. FIG. 10 shows an arrangement of a conventional electrophotographic printer provided with a hopper.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 10A, a hopper 8 is provided at a lower portion of the apparatus, and a paper transport path upward from the hopper 8 is formed. Then, a printing process unit is provided on the upper part of the hopper 8, and the photosensitive drum 9 is moved in a vertical conveying path.
After transferring the toner image at 0, the toner image is fixed by the fixing device 97 and discharged to the upper part of the apparatus.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 10B, the paper transport path is linear, and a hopper 8 and a printing process unit are provided in series. Then, the paper is fed from the hopper 8 on the left side of the figure, and the toner image is transferred by the photosensitive drum 90.
The toner is fixed by the fixing device 97 and discharged to the right in the drawing.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 10C, the paper transport path is formed in an S shape. Then, the paper fed from the hopper 8 provided at the lower part of the apparatus is turned in a U-shape, and the printing process unit 90 provided along the S-shaped conveyance path
97, a toner image is transferred, fixed, and discharged.

The structure shown in FIG.
In the configuration shown in (B), the paper discharge direction is the upper part of the apparatus. Further, in the configuration shown in FIG. 10B, there is also known an apparatus in which printed paper is returned to the hopper 8 and the hopper 8 is used as a stacker (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-28395). Gazette, JP-A-60-171181, etc.).

[0011]

However, the prior art has the following problems. In the configuration shown in FIGS. 10A and 10C, the installation area is small because the hopper 8 is provided inside the apparatus. However, since the stacker needs to be provided on the upper part, the height of the apparatus is increased, and a reduction in thickness cannot be achieved.

In the configuration shown in FIGS. 10 (B) and 10 (D), the height of the device is reduced and the device becomes thin, but the installation area is increased because the hopper 8 is outside the device. . Further, in the configuration of FIG. 10B, even if the paper is returned to the hopper 8, a separate stacker is required, so that the space is required, and the device cannot be made thin and small.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image recording apparatus for realizing a thin and compact configuration. Another object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus capable of reducing the size and thickness of the apparatus by eliminating the installation space for the stacker.

[0014]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention. A first aspect of the present invention is a sheet cover for storing a sheet.
Set 2 and a sheet unwound from the sheet cassette 2.
And an image recording unit for recording an image on the sheet cassette.
To separate the sheet to be fed out and the ejected sheet.
And a partition member 21 for recording by the image recording unit.
The separated sheet is placed in the partition member 2 of the sheet cassette 2.
Discharge path 3 for discharging to the discharge sheet storage section separated by 1
5 and a sheet from the sheet cassette 2.
Feeding means for feeding out the image, and the image recording unit
And the discharge path 35 with respect to the sheet cassette 2.
And provided in parallel .

[0015]

[0016] Claim 2 of the present invention is based on claim 1 ,
The sheet to be fed out from the sheet cassette 21 is
In addition to providing the feeding roller 30 for feeding,
The partition member 21 holds a spring member 22 for pressing the sheet to be fed to the feed roller 30 . According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect , the partition member 21 is provided with the sealing member.
It can be removed from the cassette 2.

[0017] Claim 4 of the present invention is Claim 1 or 2 or
3 , at the rear end portion 29 of the sheet cassette 21 ,
A discharge sheet guide portion 290 is provided.

Claim 5 of the present invention is claim 1 or 2 or
In 3 or 4 , the image recording unit includes a toner image forming unit 11 on a rotating endless image carrier 10.
A toner image is formed at 12 and 13, and the
After transferring the toner image to the sheet fed from the sheet cassette 2, the fixing unit 17 fixes the toner image. The sheet cassette 2 is attached to one side of a U-shaped conveyance path in which the sheet conveyance path is formed in a U-shape. The image recording unit is disposed between the U-shaped transport paths, and the toner image is transferred to the sheet by the image recording unit on the opposite surface of the U-shaped transport path.

[0019] Claim 6 of the present invention is claim 1 or 2 or
3 or 4 or 5 , wherein the sheet cassette 2 is provided at an upper portion of the apparatus, and the image recording unit is provided at a lower portion of the sheet cassette 2.

[0020]

According to the present invention, unprinted paper is stored.Seat case
To2 is initially filled with unprinted paper,
As the paper is fed, an empty space is generated. So, this
Use the empty space of the stacker as a stacker
Reduce installation space for carsTo make the device thinner.
Also, even if the inside of the sheet cassette 2 is used as a stacker,
To prevent unprinted paper and printed paper from being mixed
Therefore, the partition member 21 is provided in the sheet cassette 2. Change
Next, the feeding member 30 and the image
The image recording unit and the discharge path 35 are provided in parallel.
Thus, the image recording apparatus can be made thinner.

[0021]

Next, according to the second aspect of the present invention, since the partition member 21 is provided with the spring member 22 for pressing the unprinted paper against the pick roller 30, the unprinted paper is transferred to the pick roller 30 by the partition member 21. By pressing the paper, stable feeding of paper was enabled.

Further, according to a third aspect of the present invention, the partition member 21 can be taken out of the sheet cassette 2 so that unprinted paper can be set.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a sheet cassette 2 is provided.
The rear end portion 29 of, for providing a discharge sheet guide portion 290, when to eject the sheet cassette 2, a sheet is pulled by the device guide, it is possible to prevent a situation in which not drawn out.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, when the image recording unit is constituted by a latent image forming type recording unit, a sheet cover is provided.
Since the configuration is such that the set 2 and the image recording unit are stacked, the installation area can be reduced and the height of the apparatus can be reduced. According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the sheet cassette 2 is provided on the upper portion of the image recording unit, the sheet can be easily set and taken out even if the sheets are stacked in this manner.

[0026]

【Example】

(A) Description of Image Recording Apparatus FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are sectional views (part 1) and (part 2) of a main part of the configuration of FIG. Is shown. FIGS. 3 and 4 show the configuration of FIG. 2 in an enlarged manner.

In the figure, reference numeral 2 denotes a hopper, which stores unprinted paper and printed paper. The hopper 2 includes a bottom plate 23 for supporting unprinted paper 24, a movable partition plate 21 provided in the hopper 2 for separating unprinted paper and printed paper, and a hopper 2 provided on the partition plate 21. A pressing spring 22 for pressing the sheet 24 against a feeding roller 30 described later is provided. The hopper 2 is provided on one side of the U-shaped transport path at the upper part of the apparatus.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a feeding roller, which feeds out the sheet 24 from the hopper 2 on one side of the U-shaped conveyance path and conveys the sheet 24 to a conveyance path 34 opposite to the U-shaped conveyance path. A guide roller 31 is provided on the hopper 2 side of the feeding roller 30, and a guide roller 32 is provided on the transport path 34 side.
Is provided.

A power supply / control circuit 40 of the apparatus and a printing process (image recording) unit 1 are provided between the U-shaped transport paths. The power supply / control circuit 40 is provided on the feed roller 30 side, and the print process unit 1 is provided on the discharge side of the U-shaped transport path. For this reason, the heat of the printing process unit 1, especially the heat fixing unit 17, can be easily dissipated. A guide path 33 is provided on a transfer path 34 that forms the opposite side of the U-shaped transfer path to assist transfer of the sheet to the printing process unit 1.

The printing process unit 1 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1, a charging device 11, an optical unit 12, and a developing device 1 are provided around a rotating photosensitive drum 10.
3 and a transfer roller 14. In the printing process unit 1, a cleaner-less process that does not use a cleaner for the photosensitive drum 10 is used for thinning.

The photosensitive drum 10 can be made of a material having photosensitivity such as an organic photosensitive member, a Se photosensitive member, and an a-Si photosensitive member. The charger 11 has an offset voltage of -650 V and a peak-to-peak of 1.16 on a brush shaft of a conductive brush having a diameter of 16 mm covered with a conductive straight hair fiber (for example, REC manufactured by Unitika Ltd.). At 2kV, frequency 800Hz
And a brush charger to which the alternating current is applied. The photosensitive drum 10 is uniformly charged by the brush charger 11 so that the surface potential of the photosensitive drum 10 becomes approximately -650 V. In addition to the charging brush, a charging roller, a corotron, a scorotron, a charging solid, or a flat-type charging brush (fixed brush) can be used for the charger 11.

The optical unit 12 forms an electrostatic latent image by exposing a uniformly charged photosensitive drum 10 to a light image. This optical unit 12 is configured by an electrophotoluminescence (EL) element (manufactured by Norma Corporation). As the optical unit 12, a solid light emitting element such as an LED array can be used.

As shown in detail in the enlarged view of FIG. 3, the developing device 13 is constituted by a one-component developing device using a one-component developer. In the developing device 13, reference numeral 130 denotes a developing roller, which conveys and supplies the developer to the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 10 by rotating about a metal rotating shaft. In this embodiment, a non-magnetic insulating one-component resin toner is used as the developer. This toner is a polyester toner having a volume resistivity of 4 × 10 ¹⁴ ohm · cm, an average particle diameter of 12 μm, and a silica external additive of 0.5%.

The developing roller 130 has an average pore diameter of about 10
μm, about 200 cells / inch, volume resistivity 10 ⁴
A porous urethane sponge (Rubicel, trade name, manufactured by Toyo Polymer Co., Ltd.) having a hardness of about 10 ⁷ ohm · cm and a hardness of about 23 degrees (Asker C hardness meter) was used. The developing roller 130 is rotated at a peripheral speed of 175 mm / s, which is 2.5 times the peripheral speed of the photosensitive drum 10. A developing bias voltage is applied to the developing roller 130. This voltage is generally about -650 V, which is the surface potential of the photosensitive drum 10.
It is set to 220V. The contact pressure of the developing roller 130 with the photosensitive drum 10 was 3 g / mm.

Reference numeral 131 denotes a layer thickness regulating blade that regulates the toner layer thickness on the developing roller 130 to a constant thickness and charges the toner to a predetermined charge amount. This layer thickness regulating blade 131 is made of stainless steel (SUS304).
-CSP-EH) with a 0.1 mm-thick plate (R = 0.05 mm at the tip) having a lounge edge treatment at the tip, and a pressure of 35 gf / c against the developing roller 130.
m.

A voltage of -100 V is applied between the thickness regulating blade 131 and the developing roller 130.
As a result, the environmental dependence of the charge amount of the toner is reduced, and the toner is stabilized for a long time. That is, when the toner passes between the developing roller 130 and the layer thickness regulating blade 131, the toner and the layer thickness regulating blade 131 are rubbed and frictionally charged, so that the toner is charged. At the same time, a voltage is applied between the developing roller 130 and the layer thickness regulating blade 131 to inject electric charge from the layer thickness regulating blade 131 into the toner. Accordingly, the toner is provided with charge by frictional charging and charge injection, and has a small change in charge amount due to environmental changes and aging.
A stable charge amount can be obtained.

Reference numeral 133 denotes an agitating chamber, which accommodates the one-component developer, agitates the accommodated one-component developer by a paddle roller 134 provided therein, and conveys it to a developing chamber 132 in which a developing roller 130 is provided. Things.

By using a (spherical) polymerized toner having a uniform particle diameter as the one-component developer, the mechanical adhesion of the toner to the photosensitive drum 10 is reduced, and the paper and the photosensitive drum 10 adhere to each other during transfer. Therefore, transfer efficiency is improved. Further, when the transfer roller 14 is used for the transfer device, the distance between the photosensitive drum 10 and the paper and the toner is reduced, the transfer voltage by the transfer roller 14 is uniformly applied, and the transfer efficiency can be improved. For this reason, the residual toner on the photosensitive drum 10 is reduced, and the recovery of the residual toner by the developing device 13 becomes easy.

Further, the remaining toner on the photosensitive drum 10 is scraped up by the rotating brush charger 11 and is uniformly dispersed on the photosensitive drum 10.
Thus, the residual toner can be recovered by the developing roller 130 of the developing device 13 without providing a cleaner.

Further, since the brush charger 11, the optical unit 12, and the developing unit 13 are provided on both sides of the photosensitive drum 10, the height of the printing process unit 1 can be reduced, and the apparatus can be made thin. In the developing device 13, the stirring chamber 1
Even when the passage between the developing chamber 33 and the developing chamber 132 is narrowed and installed vertically, the developer in the stirring chamber 133 is prevented from being excessively conveyed to the developing chamber 132.

Next, the heat fixing device 17 provided at the rear of the transport path 34 is composed of a heat roller 17a and a backup roller 17b, and the sheet is sandwiched between the heat roller 17a and the backup roller 17b, and heat and pressure are applied thereto. , For fixing the toner on the paper.

A discharge path 35 for guiding the sheet after fixing into the hopper 2 and a discharge roller 36 for discharging the sheet to the hopper 2 in the discharge path 35 are provided downstream of the heat fixing device 17. Have been. By the discharge path 35 and the discharge roller 36, the sheet after fixing is transferred to the hopper 2
The hopper 2 is discharged onto the inner partition plate 21 and is used as a stacker.

The operation of this printer will be described. A sheet is set on the bottom plate 23 of the hopper 2 and the partition plate 21 is set.
And set the paper. To perform printing, the paper in the hopper 2 is fed out by the feed-out roller 30 and is conveyed to the conveyance path 34 in a U-turn. In the printing process unit 1, the photosensitive drum 10 is charged by the brush charger 11,
The photosensitive drum 10 is image-exposed by the optical unit 12 to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 10, and is developed by the developing device 13.
Form a toner image. The toner image on the photosensitive drum 10 is transferred by the transfer roller 14 to the sheet transported in the transport path 34.

The paper is made of a photosensitive drum 10 and a transfer roller 14.
The toner image is heat-fixed by the heat fixing device 17 while being sent to the hopper 2, and is discharged onto the partition plate 21 of the hopper 2 by the discharge roller 36 through the discharge path 35 and stacked.

In this example, the hopper 2, the transport path,
The relationship of the arrangement of the printing process units is related so as to reduce the size and thickness of the apparatus. That is, it is necessary to provide the hopper 2 in the apparatus in order to reduce the installation area of the apparatus. Considering the arrangement of the transport path and the printing process unit 1 on this condition, the transport path is a path where the sheet from the hopper 2 is printed while being transported upward (FIG. 10A, FIG.
In (C)), since the height of the apparatus is increased and it is difficult to reduce the thickness, it is desirable to convey the sheet in parallel with the hopper 2.

In order to convey the sheet in parallel, the sheet fed from the hopper 2 is rotated at the end toward the hopper 2 to take a conveying path for printing. If the sheet is thinned (for example, about 50 mm in height), The sheet conveyance curvature is high, the occurrence rate of the sheet jam is high, and it is not easy to remove the sheet due to the jam. For this reason, U
A U-shaped transfer path for transferring characters is most suitable.

In the method of transferring the toner image on the photosensitive drum 10 at the sheet bending portion at the end of the apparatus, the space for disposing the process unit for forming the toner image on the photosensitive drum 10 becomes narrow, which is difficult to realize. If the photosensitive drum 10 is taken out of the U-shaped transport path to provide a space for installing the process unit, and a space for installing the process unit is provided at the end of the apparatus, the sheet protrudes from the apparatus.
The installation area increases.

On the other hand, the printing process unit 1 is
If the toner image is transferred between the U-shaped conveyance path and the surface opposite to the hopper 2, the space for the process unit can be secured on the opposite surface, and the sheet does not protrude from the apparatus. And a thinner device can be realized.

As described above, the paper is transported in the U-shaped transport path, and the hopper 2 is disposed on one side of the U-shaped transport path.
A printing process unit 1 is provided between the character transport paths,
By transferring the toner image to the sheet on the opposite side of the U-shaped conveyance path, the installation area of the apparatus can be made almost the same as the sheet size, and the height of the apparatus can be set to the height of the printing process unit 1. It is possible to reduce the size and thickness.

The printer can be operated by horizontal installation with the transfer path 34 side shown in FIG. 2 as an installation surface, and vertical installation with the heat fixing unit 17 side as an installation surface. In this vertical installation, the paper from the hopper 2 is fed out by a feed-out roller 30, conveyed down a conveyance path 34, a toner image is transferred to the paper by the photosensitive drum 10, and is thermally fixed by the heat fixing device 17, and It is discharged to 2.

As described above, the printer can be used in a vertical installation in addition to the horizontal installation, and the installation area is further reduced.
The installation space on the desk can be reduced. (B) Description of hopper FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a hopper according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
7 and 8 are operation explanatory views (part 1) and (part 2) of an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 5, the hopper 2 is constituted by a box without an upper surface. That is, the hopper 2 is
And a pair of side plates 27 on both side surfaces thereof, and a front plate 2
8 and a rear plate 29 provided on the rear surface. The bottom plate 23 is provided behind the bottom of the hopper 2 and supports unprinted paper. An opening 23a is provided on the front side of the bottom of the hopper 2. When the hopper 2 is set in the apparatus,
The pick roller 30 on the apparatus side enters, and the paper can be fed out.

A U-shaped guide groove 270 is provided on the front side of the pair of side plates 27, and a vertically long guide groove 271 is provided on the rear side. These engage with guide rods 25 and 26 of the partition plate 21 which will be described later, and move the partition plate 21 to the hopper 2.
It can be moved up and down within. Further, the front plate 2
8 is provided with a viewing window 28a for viewing the state of the storage paper from outside the hopper.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
It is composed of a flat plate. A pair of guide bars 25 are provided at the front of the partition plate 21, and the guide bars 25 are fitted into U-shaped guide grooves 270 of the side plate 27. A pair of fitting shafts 26 are provided at the rear of the partition plate 21, and are fitted into the guide grooves 271 of the side plate 27.

Therefore, the partition plate 21 is supported on the side surface of the hopper 2 and can move up and down inside the hopper 2.
In the partition plate 21, the fitting shaft 26 is fitted into the guide groove 271 of the side plate 27, and the U-shaped guide groove 270 of the side plate 27 with which the guide bar 25 is engaged is open at the top. The guide rod 25 can be turned around the fitting shaft 26 by raising the guide rod 25 side upward. For this reason, the partition plate 21
The unused paper storage portion at the lower part of the paper can be opened, and the setting of the unused paper is easy.

As shown in FIG. 6, the hopper 2 can be mounted on the printer 1 from the front in the form of a cassette. In addition, the hopper 2 can be taken out from the front surface and removed. In the figure, a ready (READY) lamp 100, a toner empty lamp 101, and a paper empty lamp 10
2 are provided.

The operation of the hopper 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 shows a state of the hopper 2 on the feeding side, and FIG. 8 shows a state of the hopper 2 on the side of receiving the discharged paper.

In FIG. 7, reference numeral 22 denotes a leaf spring, which is attached to the partition plate 21 and presses unprinted paper in the unprinted paper storage section below the partition plate 21 against the pickup roller 30. FIG. 7A shows a state in which the maximum number of unprinted sheets is put in the lower part of the partition plate 21 in the hopper 2, and the partition plate 21 is in the upper part of the hopper 2, and the plate spring 22 of the partition plate 21 The paper in the hopper 2 is pressed against the pickup roller 30. Thereby, the feeding of the sheet by the pickup roller 30 is ensured.

As described above, since the hopper 2 is installed in the apparatus by inserting it in the right direction in the drawing, the bottom plate 23 of the hopper 2 is positioned above the pickup roller 30 in the apparatus. Designed. The leading end of the sheet of the hopper 2 is formed vertically so that the pickup roller 30 picks up the sheet. Therefore,
Partition plate 2 of hopper 2 by pickup roller 30
By feeding out the sheet at the lower portion of the hopper 1, the partition plate 21 moves downward, and a space is created above the partition plate 21 in the hopper 2. As shown in FIG. 7B, the printed paper shown in FIG. 8 is stored in this space.

In FIG. 8, a guide portion 290 for paper from the discharge path 35 is provided on the rear face plate 29 of the hopper 2. Also, facing the guide portion 290, a film 37 for pressing a sheet against the guide portion 290 is provided on the apparatus side.
Is provided.

Further, a paper empty detection mechanism is provided on the apparatus side. This paper empty detection mechanism
The fitting shaft 26 of the partition plate 21 of the hopper 2 is used. That is, a pair of electrodes 110 made of a leaf spring is provided on the device side with respect to the conductive fitting shaft 26. The pair of electrodes 110 are spaced apart from each other in the axial direction of the fitting shaft 26, and are provided opposite to both ends of the fitting shaft 26. A lead wire 111 is connected to one of the pair of electrodes.
, A voltage of several V (for example, 5 V) is applied.

Therefore, when there is unprinted paper below the partition plate 21 in the hopper 2, each electrode 110 is in contact with the paper and is insulated (FIG. 8A). Next, when there is no unprinted paper below the partition plate 21 in the hopper 2, the electrodes 110 are electrically connected by the fitting shaft 26 having a metal part (FIG. 8B). Therefore, the voltage of one electrode 110 is
The sheet empty can be detected by the voltage of the other electrode 110. When the paper empty is detected, the control unit (not shown) stops the printing process and turns on the paper empty lamp 102. Thereby, useless operation of the pickup roller 30 and image forming operation on the photosensitive drum 10 can be prevented.

Next, the operation of the hopper 2 will be described. The printed sheet passes through the discharge path 35 and is fed into the hopper 2 by the discharge roller 36 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. At this time, the leading edge of the paper is
The sheet is fed into the hopper 2 by the sheet insertion path 9. Then, the sheet stops moving when the trailing edge of the sheet is separated from the discharge roller 36. The trailing edge of the sheet is pressed in the direction of the hopper 2 by the film 33 provided on the apparatus side so that the trailing edge of the sheet comes into contact with the leading edge of the next sheet and no sheet jam occurs. For this reason, a paper conveyance path is formed again between the rear end of the paper and the apparatus-side guide. The previous sheet is sent in the hopper 2 when the leading edge of the next sheet comes in contact with the previous sheet, and is stored in the hopper 2.

In this way, the printed paper is stored in the upper part of the partition plate 21 of the hopper 2. At this time, when one sheet of unprinted paper below the partition plate 21 is fed out, the space for storing printed paper above the partition plate 21 becomes empty by one sheet. For this reason, the printed paper can be accommodated with the feeding of the paper. Further, since the empty space of the storage space for the printed paper is always the same, the printed paper can be smoothly stored in the hopper 2.

Further, as described above, the progress of the last discharged sheet stops when the trailing end of the sheet is separated from the discharge roller 36. For this reason, the rear end of the sheet protrudes backward from the hopper 2. When the hopper 2 is pulled out in this state, the guide portion 290 is formed on the rear face plate 29 of the hopper 2 and the rear end of the sheet is here, so that the sheet can be taken out without being pulled by the apparatus side.

In this manner, the printed paper can be stored by utilizing the empty space in the hopper 2 that is caused by feeding the paper. For this reason, the height of the stacker can be reduced, and the height of the hopper 2 also fulfills the function of the stacker, which can contribute to a reduction in the thickness of the apparatus.

Since the hopper 2 is detached from the side of the apparatus, a computer, a display and the like can be mounted on the upper part of the apparatus. (C) Description of another embodiment

In addition to the above-described embodiment, the present invention can be modified as follows. Although the printer device has been described, the present invention may be applied to a copying machine, a facsimile, and the like. In the above-described embodiment, the printing process unit 1 has been described as an electrophotographic mechanism. However, other printing mechanisms (for example, an electrostatic recording mechanism, an optical backside recording mechanism, etc.) for transferring a toner image and other printing mechanisms (for example, , An ink jet printing mechanism, a thermal transfer recording mechanism, a wire dot printing mechanism, etc.).
The medium is not limited to paper, and other media can be used.

Although the photosensitive drum 10 has been described as having a drum shape, it may have an endless belt shape. As the transfer means, an endless transfer belt or a transfer charger can be used in addition to the transfer roller.

Although the optical unit has been described as an EL (electroluminescence) optical system, it can also be realized by using a laser optical system, an LED optical system, a liquid crystal shutter optical system, or the like.

Although the developing device has been described as one-component non-magnetic developing, a known developing method such as a two-component magnetic brush developing method and a magnetic toner developing method may be used. When installing the device vertically, provide a stand, etc.
Stability can also be improved.

Although the hopper 2 is detached from the side, it may be detached from above, or may be fixed to the apparatus instead of a cassette. As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments. However, various modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention, and these are not excluded from the scope of the present invention.

[0073]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The following effects are obtained. Sheet cassette and image recording unit
A discharge path is provided in the image recording device
Therefore, the sheet cassette can be used as a stacker for printed paper.
Available. For this reason, the height of the device for the stacker can be reduced, a wasteful space of the device can be effectively used, and the thickness of the device can be reduced.

Further , as described above, the sheet cassette is
Even if it is used for a container, a partition member is provided,
Mixing of paper and printed paper can be prevented. Furthermore, sheets
The feeding member 30 and the image recording unit
Since the printer and the discharge path 35 are provided in parallel,
The device can be made thinner.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view (part 1) of a main part of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view (part 2) of a main part of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a hopper according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view when the hopper of FIG. 5 is mounted.

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory view (part 1) of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram (part 2) for explaining the operation of the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram (part 1) of a conventional technique.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram (part 2) of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 image recording unit 2 hopper 10 photosensitive drum (image carrier) 11 brush charger 12 optical unit 13 developing device 14 transfer roller 17 heat fixing device 21 partition plate 22 leaf spring 23 bottom plate 24 paper 25 guide rod 26 fitting shaft 27 side Face plate 28 Front plate 29 Rear plate 30 Pickup roller 270 Guide groove 271 Guide groove

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-56-139981 (JP, A) JP-A-4-83460 (JP, A) JP-A-3-110574 (JP, A) 104369 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B65H 83/02 B65H 1/26 310 B65H 29/22 G03G 15/00 510-550

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sheet cassette (2) for storing sheets.
And sheets fed from the sheet cassette (2).
In an image recording apparatus in which an image recording unit for recording an image is stacked , a sheet to be fed out is provided in the sheet cassette (2).
(2) for separating the sheet from the discharged sheet
1) and the sheet recorded by the image recording unit is replaced with the sheet
The cassette (2) is separated by the partition member (21).
A discharge path (35) for discharging to a discharge sheet storage section is provided.
And feeding out the sheet from the sheet cassette (2).
Means, the image recording unit, and the discharge path (3
5) is provided in parallel with the sheet cassette (2).
The image recording apparatus characterized by the. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said sheet cassette is provided with
Feeding roller (3) for feeding the sheet to be fed
0), and the partition member (21) is provided with the feeding roller (3).
0) a spring for pressing the sheet to be fed out
2. The image recording device according to claim 1, wherein the member holds the member . 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said partition member (21) is provided on said sheet.
3. The image recording device according to claim 1 , wherein the image recording device is detachable from the cassette . 4. A rear end of the sheet cassette (21).
At (29), the guide portion (290) of the discharge sheet is attached.
The image recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 or 3, characterized in that provided. 5. An image recording unit according to claim 1, wherein said image recording unit is provided with a toner image forming member on a rotating endless image carrier.
Forming a toner image by forming means (11, 12, 13);
Feeding out of the sheet cassette (2) by the copying means (14)
After the toner image is transferred to the sheet, the fixing means (1
7) a U-shaped conveyance path formed so as to fix the sheet and forming the conveyance path of the sheet in a U-shape
The sheet cassette (2) is arranged on one side of
The image recording unit is arranged between the U-shaped transport paths.
And the image recording unit on the opposite side of the U-shaped conveyance path.
The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the toner image is transferred onto the sheet by using the following method. 6. The sheet cassette (2) is mounted on an upper part of the apparatus.
The image recording unit is provided below the sheet cassette (2).
Claim, characterized in that a Tsu sheet 1 or 2 or 3 also
Is an image recording device of 4 or 5.